Baseboard switch



April 10, 1934. I. L. MATSON BASEBOARD SWITCH Filed March 19, 1932 Arron/v5 Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to electric switches.

The invention is especially concerned with switches used to control light circuits and other electric apparatus in hospitals and similar institutions. It is the chief object of the invention to devise a switch adapted for installation in the baseboard, or in some corresponding part of a wall, where it can be conveniently operated by the foot.

The nature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a switch, together with its operating and supporting means, constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the main body of the casing in which the switch is enclosed;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the switch mounted in its casing; and

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3, a portion of the cover plate of the switch, however, being shown as broken away.

Preliminary to a detailed description of the construction illustrated in the drawing, it may be pointed out that it is a very common occurrence in hospitals, and the like, for a nurse to come into a patients room, or to go out of it, carrying a tray, or with both hands otherwise filled. Before she can turn the lights in the room on or off she must set down the tray, or find something on which to rest part of her load. She can then operate the switch. In addition to the inconvenience of this arrangement, there is also danger that the switch handle may become contaminated and that infection may thus be transmitted to the nurses, patients, or visitors.

The present invention deals with these conditions and provides a switch which can be set into the baseboard either immediately outside or inside the room, as desired, where the nurse can conveniently operate it with her foot.

The switch structure shown in the drawing comprises an electric switch 2 which may be of any suitable character. A rotary snap switch of the pull cord type may very conveniently be used for this purpose, and such a switch is illustrated in the drawing. Since this type of switch is well known, no detailed description or illustration of it is required. As usually constructed it includes a common type of snap switch mechanism, together with a ratchet wheel for operating the switch, a pull cord for giving the wheel a rotary movement, and a spring for returning the wheel to its initial and normal position after it has been operated and when the cord is released. In the drawing the pull cord or chain is shown at 3.

Preferably the switch unit is incorporated in this apparatus in a complete and self-contained form. For the purposes of this invention this switch is secured to a bracket 4 on which a lever 5 is fulcrumed, the lever lying immediately under the switch to swing in a vertical plane. It is mounted on a pivot stud '7 which projects through two ears spaced slightly apart and both secured rigidly to the bracket 4, the lever 5 swinging between them. The cord or chain 3 is drawn through a hole in the lever and is adjustably secured to the lever by means of a set screw or bolt 6. When the lever is depressed it operates the switch, and as soon as it is released it is returned to its original position again by the return spring in the switch 2. Upper and lower rubber bumpers 8 and 9, respectively, limit the range of movement of the lever 5.

The entire assembly, including the switch 2, lever 5 and bracket 4, when completed is slipped into a casing or box 10 which is made of sheet metal and is provided with the usual apertures, one of which is shown at 12, Fig. 2, for the passage of the conductors that carry current to and from the switch. This casing includes a face plate 14, usually made of brass, which is secured to the main body of the casing by screws 15, these screws taking into ears 16 which are secured rigidly to the body of the casing. Preferably these ears are spaced apart by suflicient distances to receive the bracket 4 rather snugly so as to position it laterally in the casing. This relationship is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 4. Two screws 18-18 projecting through the face plate are threaded into the upper and lower ends of the bracket 4 and secure the bracket rigidly to the face plate. A slot 17, Fig. 4, is made in the face plate 14 to permit the passage therethrough of the lever 5.

This switch may conveniently be set into any point in the wall where it can be operated easily by simply pressing down on the projecting end of the lever with the foot. Usually these switches are so constructed that one depression of the lever 5 will turn the switch on and the next similar movement will turn the switch into its off position. The spring in the switch immediately returns the lever to its uppermost position as soon as the pressure on the lever or the strain on the pull cord 3 is relieved. While baseboards, as such, are rarely used in modern hospitals, the switch usually is set into the wall at about the level of the baseboard and consequently may be aptly termed a baseboard switch.

The invention thus provides a switch which effectually avoids the difliculties above described, while at the same time being exceptionally sturdy and substantial in construction, reliable in operation, and economical to manufacture. In addition to being easier to operate than the switches ordinarily used, it also eliminates the danger of transmitting disease through contamination of the switch handle.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred form of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit 1. In a device of the character described, the combination of an electric switch, a casing in which said switch is enclosed, said casing including a slotted cover plate, a bracket removably mounted in said casing, said switch being mounted on said bracket, a lever fulcrumed on said bracket and projecting through the slot in said cover plate, and connections between said switch and said lever for operating the switch.

2. In an article of the character described, the combination of an electric switch of the pull cord type, a casing in which said switch is enclosed, said casing including a slotted cover plate, a bracket removably mounted in said casing, said switch being mounted on said bracket, a lever fulcrumed on said bracket and projecting through the slot in said cover plate, and means for operatively connecting the pull cord of said switch to said lever.

IRVING L. MATSON. 

